Drone Didi: Founder and CEO of Salam Kisan and Prime Aerospace, Dhanashri Mandhani, discussed how the Drone Didi programme was a game changer for agritech capacity building during the ‘Startup Mahakumbh’ at Bharat Mandapam.
Government Measures for Agritech Transformation
Mandhani expresses optimism regarding these government measures, highlighting their capacity to incite constructive transformation in the agricultural domain. Salam Kisan has been involved in these efforts and has trained Maharashtra’s first female drone pilot.
“These drones again would become eligible for the government subsidy once we get our Type C certification from DGCA that we’ve applied for. So I see the drone Didi Yojana, the drone Swaraj Yojana as very big game changers in terms of training, in terms of capacity building and in terms of even subsidized drone, like availing subsidized drone for farmers” Mandhani said in an interview with ANI. “All of these, schemes and subsidies are going to be game changers in the drone industry, which is at a potential of one USD 78 billion by 2030 for the Indian economy,” she added.
Job Creation Potential
Additionally, the businessman believes that drones will create over 500,000 new jobs in the nation. “Drones are already going to add to 500,000 jobs in the country, it’s going to add to the GDP by 1.5 per cent. And this is just the drone industry. But when I speak about agriculture as well with the Agri tech penetration, in the country, agriculture is already such a huge part of the nations, the nation’s economy, but its projected at a USD 600 billion growth by 2030” Mandhani said.
Rising Adoption Trends
The percentage of Indian farmers utilising drones is unknown, however according to a forecast by an American consulting firm, the use of drones in the agriculture industry will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.5% and reach USD 121.43 million by 2030.
The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare implemented a 40–50% drone subsidy in 2022 to assist various farmer organisations in India in streamlining agricultural techniques and increasing food output. Additionally, the Centre has approved a plan to rent drones to 15,000 women’s self-help groups so they can use them for agricultural reasons.
